Puerto Rican Driver Sees the New Series as a Path to WeatherTech ChampionshipMarch 9, 2023By Mark RobinsonIMSA Wire Service VP Racing SportsCar Challenge Sebring Entry List DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Sebastian Carazo has been successfully climbing the sports car racing ladder in single-make series sanctioned by IMSA. Ready to take the step into multiclass racing, the 24-year-old Puerto Rican joined the new VP Racing SportsCar Challenge this season and is glad he did.The VP Racing Challenge features Le Mans Prototype 3 and GT4 cars competing together in a pair of 45-minute sprint races on six weekends. The series debuted at Daytona International Speedway in January and takes to Sebring International Raceway this weekend, with both races set for Sunday.Carazo is driving the No. 27 Kellymoss with Riley Porsche 718 GT4 RS Clubsport in the GSX class, qualifying in the top four for both Daytona races. Early contact with another GSX competitor relegated him to a 14th-place class finish in the first race, though he did turn the fastest GSX lap on the final lap. Carazo led 16 of the 24 laps in the second race before finishing second.Along the way, he gained valuable knowledge in sharing the track with the faster LMP3 cars as well as dealing with less-experienced drivers. It was the first multiclass racing experience for the 2019 Gold class champion in the Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge USA and 2022 ProAm class champion (with co-driver Bryan Ortiz) in the Lamborghini Super Trofeo Grand Finals pitting drivers from the marque’s North American and European series against each other.“(Multiclass racing) is something different because you’re driving on your own, concentrating on your race, and you’ve got a prototype which is going three times quicker than you on the straight, and it’s something you need to factor in. … The closing distance is huge. I do like it, it’s fun.”Carazo’s ultimate goal is to drive GT3 cars in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. He believes IMSA is providing the ideal ladder, with the VP Racing Challenge and IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge offering experience opportunities in GT4 machinery before graduating to the WeatherTech Championship.“The VP Challenge has a very good starting point for a young driver to learn to do multiclass racing,” he said. “Even though it’s a GT4, it’s a slower car but it’s not sluggish and it’s definitely not slow. It gets you up to speed quick on multiclass racing, managing traffic, managing tires. Even though it’s a 45-minute race, it’s more or less a stint of what the tires will do, so it puts you in a position to learn how to manage it.”Carazo is among 17 drivers entered in the GSX field this weekend. Billy Griffin, who won both Daytona races in the No. 14 KohR Motorsports Ford Mustang GT4, is the class points leader by 100 over Rob Walker (No. 25 Auto Technic Racing BMW M4 GT4), who finished third twice at Daytona.Dan Goldburg, the overall winner in both Daytona races in the No. 73 JDC MotorSports Duqueine D08, heads up the 10-car LMP3 field. The Sebring schedule calls for a pair of Saturday practices ahead of qualifying at 4:40 p.m. ET. Sunday’s races start at 8 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. |
